Rice you'll love!

Posted by ONIE Project on 02/19/2014

It is February, the month of love. Today, I want to share my secrets on how to make rice you will LOVE. I am a rice person and I have been eating it for almost a quarter of a century. It has been an important and constant part of my meals, birthdays, and holiday dinners. When I don’t have rice, my meal feels incomplete, and I am a little sad that those delicious little white or brown grains aren’t on my plate. While I love the taste and texture of rice, cooking it is a different story. I began to learn to cook rice by watching my mom, and trying to follow her techniques. I perfected cooking rice by practice. My earliest memory of cooking rice is not a good one. I cooked the oil too much, and the house filled with smoke causing the smoke alarm to go off. My family had to throw open all the windows and doors to air out the house. I have improved but in the process have made tons of salty, soggy, bland, and under-cooked rice that my family had to eat.

I appreciate rice even more now that I cook more often. It is nutritious, inexpensive, and the perfect side to just about any meal. Also, you can do a lot with rice and its leftovers. One of my favorite things to do with left-over rice is spice it up by throwing in peas and low-fat cheddar cheese while it is reheating in the skillet. As you can see with the picture to the left, I don't add a lot of cheese. Another thing I like to do is add cilantro and lime juice. This combination gives the rice a fresh and light taste. I hope you are now dying to start cooking. Follow the steps below to make the perfect pot of rice!

Instructions

Measure out 2 cups of rice. ONIE TEST KITCHEN TIP: Rinse rice 3-4 times until water is clear; drain water.

Place pot on stove, turn to high.

Add 1 tbsp. of oil to pot.

Add rice to pot when oil is hot. (To check if oil is hot, throw one grain in. If it sizzles, it’s hot). Sauté rice for 1 minute.

Add 1 tsp. of salt. Mix well with rice.

Add 2 cups of water.

Place lid on pot and leave on high for 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes, reduce heat to low. Cook for 10-15 more minutes. *Serving per person: ¼ cup You can take the same steps for cooking brown rice. The only difference is in the amount of water added and timing. It takes longer for brown rice to cook.

The benefit is that brown rice is a whole grain.

Follow steps 1-5 to cook white long grain rice.

Add 3 cups of water.

Place lid on pot and leave on high for 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes, reduce heat to low. Cook for 30-40 minutes.

Rice is easy to cook once you get the hang of it. Keep practicing and make the rice cooking process your own! Veronica and the ONIE Team

Resources

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